Black Hawk (Sauk leader)
|birth_place=Saukenuk, Illinois |death_place=Davis County, Iowa |nationality=Sauk |other_names=Black Sparrow Hawk |known_for=Black Hawk War |occupation=War captain; band leader |monuments=Black Hawk Statue, Black Hawk State Historic Site }} Black Hawk (1767 – October 3, 1838) was a leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe in what is now the United States. Although he had inherited an important historic medicine bundle, he was not one of the Sauk's hereditary civil chiefs. His status came from leading war parties as a young man, and from his leadership of a band of Sauks during the Black Hawk War of 1832. During the War of 1812, Black Hawk fought on the side of the British. Later he led a band of Sauk and Fox warriors, known as the British Band, against European-American settlers in Illinois and present-day Wisconsin in the 1832 Black Hawk War. After the war, he was captured and taken to the eastern U.S., where he and other leaders toured several cities. Black Hawk died in 1838 in what is now southeastern Iowa. He left behind an enduring legacy through many eponyms and other tributes. Early life Black Hawk, or Black Sparrow Hawk (Sauk Makataimeshekiakiak [Mahkate:wi-meši-ke:hke:hkwa], "be a large black hawk")Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 66. was born in the village of Saukenuk on the Rock River, in present-day Rock Island, Illinois, in 1767. Black Hawk's father Pyesa was the tribal medicine man of the Sauk people. The Sauk people used the village in the summer for raising corn and as a burial site, while moving across the Mississippi for winter hunts and fur trapping. Little is known about Black Hawk's youth. He was said to be a descendant of Nanamakee (Thunder), a Sauk chief who, according to tradition, met an early French explorer, possibly Samuel de Champlain.Roger L. Nichols, Black Hawk and the Warrior's Path (Arlington Heights, Illinois: Harlan Davidson, 1992; ISBN 0-88295-884-4), 4, 12. At age 15, Black Hawk accompanied his father Pyesa on a raid against the Osages, and won the approval of his father by killing and scalping his first enemy.Nichols, 14. The young Black Hawk then tried to establish himself as a war captain by leading other raids, but met with limited success until, at age 19, he led 200 men in a battle against the Osages, in which he personally killed five men and one woman.Nichols, 16. Soon after, he joined his father in a raid against Cherokees along the Meramec River in Missouri. After Pyesa died from wounds received in the battle, Black Hawk inherited the Sauk medicine bundle that had been carried by his father.Nichols, 16–17. After an extended period of mourning for his father, Black Hawk resumed leading raiding parties over the next years, usually targeting the Osages. Black Hawk did not belong to a clan that provided the Sauks with civil leaders, or "chiefs". He instead achieved status through his exploits as a warrior, and by leading successful raiding parties. Men like Black Hawk are sometimes called "war chiefs", although historian Patrick Jung writes that "It is more accurate to call them 'war leaders' since the nature of their office and the power that it wielded was much different from that of a civil chief."Jung, 55. The term "war captain" is preferred by some historians.See for example John W. Hall, Uncommon Defense: Indian Allies in the Black Hawk War (Harvard University Press, 2009), p. 2. War of 1812 , 1810. Black Hawk participated in the 1809 and 1812 sieges; the fort fell to British-supported Indians in 1813.]] Black Hawk served as a war leader of a band of Sauk at their village of Saukenuk. He had always been opposed to ceding Native American lands to white settlers and their governments. In particular, he denied the validity of Quashquame's 1804 treaty between the Sauk and Fox nations and then-Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory. The treaty ceded territory, including Saukenuk, to the United States. This treaty was subsequently disputed by Black Hawk and other members of the tribes because the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization from their councils to cede lands. Black Hawk participated in skirmishes against the newly constructed Fort Madison in the disputed land; this was the first time he fought directly with U.S. forces. The War of 1812 involved forces of Great Britain and its North American colonies in present-day Canada against the United States. Preoccupied with Napoleon, the British depended upon Native American allies to help them wage war in remote areas. Colonel Robert Dickson, an English fur trader, amassed a sizable force of Native Americans at Green Bay to assist the British in operations around the Great Lakes. Most of the warriors he assembled were from the Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Kickapoo, and Ottawa tribes. Dickson appealed to Black Hawk and his band of about 200 Sauk warriors. When Black Hawk arrived, he was given command of all the Natives gathered at Green Bay, presented with a silk flag, a medal, and a written certificate of good behavior and alliance with the British. In addition, Dickson bestowed upon Black Hawk the rank of brevet Brigadier General.Smith, William Rudolph. The History of Wisconsin: In Three Parts, Historical, Documentary, and Descriptive, (Google Books), B. Brown: 1854, pp. 221–406. Retrieved 20 September 2007. Twenty years later, after the Battle of Bad Axe, the certificate was found carefully preserved, along with a flag similar to the one Dickson gave to Black Hawk. During the war, Black Hawk and his warriors fought in several engagements with Major-General Henry Procter on the borders of Lake Erie. Black Hawk was at the battle of Fort Meigs, and the attack on Fort Stephenson.Trask, Kerry A. Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America, (Google Books), Henry Holt: 2006, p. 109, 308, (ISBN 0805077588), pp. 220-221. Retrieved 26 October 2007.Lewis, James. "The Black Hawk War of 1832: FAQ," Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved 26 October 2007. The British and the Indian Confederacy, led by Tecumseh, were repulsed with great losses to the British. Black Hawk despaired over the waste of lives caused by the use of European attack methods; soon after, he quit the war to return home. Back in Saukenuk he found that his rival Keokuk had become the tribe's war chief. Black Hawk rejoined the British effort toward the end of the war and participated alongside British forces in campaigns along the Mississippi River near the Illinois Territory. At the Battle of Credit Island and by harassing U.S. troops at Fort Johnson Black Hawk helped to push the Americans out of the upper Mississippi River valley. Black Hawk fought in the Battle of the Sink Hole in May 1815, leading an ambush on a group of Missouri Rangers. Conflicting accounts of the action were given by the Missouri leader John Shaw and by Black Hawk. After the War of 1812 ended, Black Hawk signed a peace treaty in May 1816 that re-affirmed the treaty of 1804, a provision of which Black Hawk later protested ignorance.Lewis, James. ""Background: The Black Hawk War of 1832", Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved 20 September 2007. Black Hawk War .]] As a consequence of an 1804 treaty between the Governor of Indiana Territory and a group of Sauk and Fox leaders regarding land settlement, the Sauk and Fox tribes ceded their lands in Illinois and moved west of the Mississippi in 1828. Black Hawk and other tribal members disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands. Angered by the loss of his birthplace, between 1830 and 1831 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River. He was persuaded to return west each time without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by promises of alliance with other tribes and the British, he moved his so-called "British Band" of more than 1500 people, both warriors and non-combatants into Illinois.Lewis, James. "The Black Hawk War of 1832," Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved August 1, 2007. Finding no allies, he attempted to return to Iowa, but the undisciplined Illinois militia's actions led to the Battle of Stillman's Run."May 14: Black Hawk's Victory at the Battle of Stillman's Run," Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, Wisconsin State Historical Society. Retrieved 6 August 2007. A number of other engagements followed, and the militias of Michigan Territory and Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's Band. The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War. Black Hawk's British Band was composed of about 500 warriors and 1,000 old men, women, and children when they crossed the Mississippi on April 5.Harmet, "Apple River Fort," p. 13.Lewis, James. "Introduction," The Black Hawk War of 1832, Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved 20 September 2007. The group included members of the Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo Tribes. They crossed the river near the mouth of the Iowa River and followed the Rock River northeast. Along the way, they passed the ruins of Saukenuk and headed for the village of Ho-Chunk prophet White Cloud.Lewis, "Introduction." As the war progressed, factions of other tribes joined, or attempted to join Black Hawk. Other Native Americans carried out acts of violence for personal reasons amidst the chaos of the war.""May 21, Indian Creek, Ill.: Abduction of the Hall Sisters", Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, Wisconsin State Historical Society. Retrieved 20 September 2007.Matile, Roger. "The Black Hawk War: Massacre at Indian Creek," Ledger-Sentinel (Oswego, Illinois), 31 May 2007, Retrieved 20 September 2007 In one example, a band of hostile Ho-Chunk intent on joining Black Hawk's Band attacked and killed the party of Felix St. Vrain after the outbreak of war in what Americans knew as the St. Vrain massacre. This act was, however, an exception as most Ho-Chunk sided with the United States during the Black Hawk War. The warriors who attacked St. Vrain's party acted independently of the Ho-Chunk nation.""The Killing of Felix St. Vrain", Historic Diaries: Black Hawk War, Wisconsin Historical Society, Retrieved 20 September 2007 From April to August, Potawatomi warriors also joined with Black Hawk's Band. The war stretched from April to August 1832, with a number of battles, skirmishes and massacres on both sides. When the Illinois Militia and Michigan Territory Militia caught up with Black Hawk's "British Band" following the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, they had a conclusive confrontation at Bad Axe. At the mouth of the Bad Axe River, pursuing soldiers, their Indian allies, and a U.S. gunboat killed hundreds of Sauk and Potawatomi men, women and children.McCann, Dennis. "Black Hawk's name, country's shame lives on", Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, April 28, 2007. Retrieved July 30, 2007. On August 27, 1832, Black Hawk and Wabokieshiek surrendered at Prairie du Chien to Indian agent Joseph Street.Jung, p. 182.Trask, pp. 294–95. Tour of the East used by Black Hawk, on display at Black Hawk State Historic Site.]] Following the Black Hawk War, with most of the British Band killed and the rest captured or disbanded, the defeated Black Hawk was held in captivity at Jefferson Barracks with Neapope, White Cloud, and eight other leaders. After eight months, in April 1833, they were taken east, as ordered by U.S. President Andrew Jackson. The men traveled by steamboat, carriage, and railroad, and met with large crowds wherever they went. Once in Washington, D.C., they met with Jackson and Secretary of War Lewis Cass. Afterward, they were delivered to their final destination, prison at Fortress Monroe in Virginia. They were held only a few weeks at the prison, during which they posed for portraits by different artists. On June 5, 1833, the men were sent west by steamboat on a circuitous route that took them through many large cities. Again, the men were a spectacle everywhere they went, and were greeted by huge crowds of people in cities such as New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia. In the west, closer to the battle sites and history of conflict, the reception was much different. For instance, in Detroit, a crowd burned and hanged effigies of the prisoners.Lewis, James. "The Black Hawk War of 1832", Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University, p. 2D. Retrieved 20 September 2007. Near the end of his captivity in 1833, Black Hawk told his life story to Antoine LeClaire, a government interpreter. Edited by the local reporter J.B. Patterson, Black Hawk's account was the first Native American autobiography published in the United States."Black Hawk Remembers Village Life Along the Mississippi," History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web, George Mason University. Retrieved 20 September 2007. The Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, or Black Hawk, Embracing the Traditions of his Nation, Various Wars In Which He Has Been Engaged, and His Account of the Cause and General History of the Black Hawk War of 1832, His Surrender, and Travels Through the United States. Also Life, Death and Burial of the Old Chief, Together with a History of the Black Hawk War was published in 1833 in Cincinnati, Ohio.[http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/navigate.pl?lincoln.3431 Black Hawk; LeClair, Antoine, interpreter; Patterson, J. B., editor, Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, or Black Hawk, Embracing the Traditions of his Nation, Various Wars In Which He Has Been Engaged, and His Account of the Cause and General History of the Black Hawk War of 1832, His Surrender, and Travels Through the United States. Also Life, Death and Burial of the Old Chief, Together with a History of the Black Hawk War, J. B. Patterson, Oquawka, IL: 1882, Retrieved 20 September 2007] The book immediately became a best seller. As Sauk leader , by David Richards]] Although not a hereditary chief, Black Hawk filled a leadership void within the Sauk community. When Quashquame ceded much of the Sauk homeland in 1804 to the United States, including the main village Saukenuk, he was viewed as ineffective. Black Hawk wrote in his autobiography: Because of his role in the disputed 1804 treaty, the tribe reduced their support of Quashquame and made him a minor chief. "Quasquawma, was chief of this tribe once, but being cheated out of the mineral country, as the Indians allege, he was denigrated from his rank and his son-in-law Taimah elected in his stead."Atwater, Caleb. Remarks Made of A Tour to Prairie du Chien: Thence to Washington City, in 1829. Columbus, OH: Isaac N. Whiting, 1831 Although Quashquame and Black Hawk were at odds, Black Hawk did not directly challenge the civil chief. They apparently remained on good terms as Black Hawk rose in importance and Quashquame faded. Quashquame avoided confrontation with the U.S., while Black Hawk did not. After Black Hawk led an aborted takeover of Fort Madison in the Spring of 1809, Quashquame worked to restore relations with the United States Army the next day.Van der Zee, Jacob (1913) "Old Fort Madison: Some Source Materials", Iowa Journal of History and Politics Vol. 11. Quashquame attempted to placate the U.S., telling Gen. William Clark during a meeting in 1810 or 1811: During the run up to the War of 1812, the US viewed Quashquame as loyal, or at least neutral, while Black Hawk was considered the leader of the British-allied Sauk. Quashquame led all Sauk non-combatants during the war. Black Hawk thought this was an ideal arrangement: A rift appeared within the Sauk after the war. In 1815 Quashquame was part of a large delegation that signed a treaty confirming a split between the Sauk along the Missouri River and the Sauk who lived along the Rock River at Saukenuk.Indian Treaties 1795 to 1862 Vol. XX - Sauk & Fox L.S. Watson (ed.) 1993 The Rock River group of Sauk was commonly known as the British Band; they formed the core of warriors who participated in the Black Hawk War. About 1824 Quashquame sold a large Sauk village in Illinois to a trader Captain James White. White gave Quashquame "a little sku-ti-apo liquor and two thousand bushels of corn" for the land, which later became Nauvoo, Illinois.Campbell, James W. (1884) "Address of Capt. Jas. W. Campbell.", in Report of the Organization and First Reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, edited by J. H. Cole and J. M. Schaffer, pp. 33–38, Keokuk: IA, Tri-State Printing This sale likely aggravated Black Hawk and other Sauk who wanted to maintain their claim on Illinois. As Quashquame was eclipsed by his son-in-law Taimah as the Sauk chief favored by the U.S., his voice of compromise could no longer compete with Black Hawk's resistance. When Caleb Atwater wrote about his visit to Quashquame in 1829, he depicted the leader as feeble, more interested in art and leisure than politics, but still advocating diplomacy over conflict.Caleb Atwater (1829) Remarks Made of A Tour to Prairie du Chien: Thence to Washington City (published 1831, pp. 60-62) In the summer of 1830, Black Hawk began his incursions into the disputed territory of Illinois, eventually leading to the Black Hawk War. Black Hawk's frequent rival was Keokuk, a Sauk war chief held in high esteem by the U.S. government, which viewed him as a calm and reasonable Sauk leader willing to negotiate, unlike Black Hawk. Black Hawk despised Keokuk, and viewed him as cowardly and self-serving, at one point threatening to kill him for not defending Saukenuk.Trask, Kerry (2006) Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America. Henry Holt. pp. 75-80. After the Black Hawk War Keokuk was designated the main Sauk leader by the U.S. Last days After his tour of the east, Black Hawk lived with the Sauk along the Iowa River and later the Des Moines River near IowavilleAndreas Atlas of Iowa", 1903, "Van Buren Co. Early History" and "Davis Co. Early History" in what is now southeast Iowa. At the end of his life he attempted reconciliation with both the whites he had fought and with his Sauk rivals, including Keokuk. Black Hawk died on October 3, 1838 after two weeks of illness, and was buried on the farm of his friend James Jordan on the north bank of the Des Moines River in Davis County. In July 1839, his remains were stolen by James Turner, who prepared his skeleton for exhibition. Black Hawk's sons Nashashuk and Gamesett went to Governor Robert Lucas of Iowa Territory, who used his influence to bring the bones to security in his offices in Burlington. With the permission of Black Hawk's sons, the remains were held by the Burlington Geological and Historical Society. When the Society's building burned down in 1855, Black Hawk's remains were destroyed. An alternative story is that Lucas passed Black Hawk's bones to a Burlington physician, Enos Lowe, who left them to his partner, Dr. McLaurens. Eventually workers found the bones left by McLaurens after he moved to California. They buried the remains in a potter's grave in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington. There is a marker for himChief Blackhawk (1760 - 1838) - Find A Grave Memorial in the Iowaville Cemetery on the hill over the river, although it is unknown if any of his remains are there. Legacy , a sculpture by Lorado Taft inspired by Black Hawk.]] Through interpreter Antoine LeClair, Black Hawk dictated an autobiography titled ''Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak (or, Life of Black Hawk), originally published in 1833.Wisconsin Historical Society A sculpture by Lorado Taft overlooks the Rock River in Oregon, Illinois. Entitled The Eternal Indian, this statue is commonly known as the Black Hawk Statue.Oregon Sculpture Trail, The Eternal Indian, City of Oregon. Retrieved 28 September 2007. In modern times Black Hawk is considered a tragic hero and numerous commemorations exist. These are mostly in the form of eponyms; many roads, sports teams and schools are named after Black Hawk. Among the numerous wars in United States history, however; the Black Hawk War is one of few named for a person.Shannon, B. Clay. Still Casting Shadows: A Shared Mosaic of U.S. History, (Google Books), iUniverse, New York: 2006, p. 215, (ISBN 0595397239). Retrieved 26 October 2007. According to a widespread myth, the Olympic gold medal-winning athlete Jim Thorpe was said to be descended from Black Hawk.County Chronicles: A Vivid Collection of Fayette County, Pennsylvania Histories, (Google Books), Mechling Bookbindery: 2004, pp. 129–30, (ISBN 0976056348). Retrieved 4 October 2007. The Wisconsin born African American spiritualist and trance medium Leafy Anderson claimed that Black Hawk was one of her major spirit guides. This spirit's guidance and protection are sought by the members of many churches within the loosely allied Spiritual Church Movement which she founded. Special "Black Hawk services" are held to invoke his assistance, and busts or statues representing him are kept on home and church altars by his devotees. Examples of eponyms *Several place names, including Black Hawk County, Iowa; the Black Hawk Bridge between Iowa and Wisconsin; and the historical Black Hawk Purchase in Iowa. *Four United States Navy vessels were named USS Black Hawk. *The United States Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. *The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League indirectly derive their name from Black Hawk. Their first owner, Frederic McLaughlin, was a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I, nicknamed the "Black Hawk Division" after the war leader. McLaughlin named the hockey team in honor of his military unit."History", Chicago Blackhawks *Black Hawk College, an Illinois community college. *Black Hawk High School, a rural high school in South Wayne, Wisconsin, is named after Chief Black Hawk. Their nickname is the Warriors. *Blackhawk Junior High School, in Bensenville, Illinois. *Blackhawk Country Club, a private golf club in Madison, Wisconsin. *Waterloo Black Hawks - United States Hockey League (USHL) hockey team. *The athletic teams of Prairie du Chien Area School District|Prairie du Chien High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin are nicknamed the Blackhawks in his honor.Southwest Wisconsin Conference * The athletic teams of Fort Atkinson High School, Wisconsin are named the "Blackhawks" after Black Hawk. * The Atlanta Hawks were known as the Tri-Cities Black Hawks upon the inaugural season of the NBA in Moline, Illinois. This was in reference to the Black Hawk War fought in part in what is now known as the Quad-Cities, a group of cities straddling the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois. * Iowa's nickname of the "Hawkeye State" is a tribute to Black Hawk.State Symbols USA *The athletic teams of West Aurora High School in Aurora, Illinois are named "Blackhawks" after Chief Black Hawk. The school prominently displays many photos of Chief Black Hawk as well as a lifelike bronze bust in the school library. See also *Wisconsin Heights Battlefield References Notes Bibliography External links * Black Hawk with his son Whirling Thunder (1833), by John Wesley Jarvis, Gilcrease Museum * * "Black Hawk State Historic Site", Illinois History * "Black Hawk Surrender Speech", State Department * "Black Hawk (Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak)", in John E. Hallwas, ed. Illinois Literature: The Nineteenth Century, Macomb, IL: Illinois Heritage Press, 1986 * * * Category:1767 births Category:1838 deaths Category:People from Rock Island, Illinois Category:Native American leaders Category:Native Americans in the War of 1812 Category:Native American history of Illinois Category:Native American history of Iowa Category:Native American history of Wisconsin Category:People from Iowa Category:Native Americans of the Black Hawk War Category:People of pre-statehood Illinois Category:People of pre-statehood Iowa Category:People of pre-statehood Wisconsin Category:Quad Cities Category:Sac and Fox people